Stropping the Night Before

I think I have read that some people here strop the night before they shave.

Does this have any affect on the strop quality or is there no difference over 8 hours or so?

I am going to strop a razor tonight and one tomorrow morning. In order to compare, I am going to use a Boker 101 Red Injun and my Boker Diamond. Not an exact match, but close.

I will do this again the following day using my Dovo Bismark and my Dovo Special. Again, not an exact match, but close.

One on one side of my face, one on the other. I will post results.

David

Not sure it matters. Unlike most I strop immediately after shaving because my memory sucks at 64 and I was sometimes forgetting which razor I used the evening before...... linen or cotton followed by various leathers. Works perfectly for me.

I shave at the gym and I used to take a small loom strop with me for stropping. Recently I forgot to take the loom strop with me. I had stropped before the gym so I figured it should be fine. And indeed the shave was fine. But that is not quite 8 hours, more like four our five.

I will strop in the evening before traveling. I have experienced no noticeable difference. I'm looking forward to the results of you test though. Thanks for posting this.:)

Ever since I started shaving with a straight, I always strop the night before. Don't know why I did that. I guess I figured my chances of knicking the strop was greater in the morning. It feels good to just jump out of the shower, get a fresh razor and shave and gives me a ritual to do in the evenings.
Ernest

As long as your home is free of gremlins, your razor should be fine overnight

I don't always stop right before I shave. I usually do it whenever I finish honing, cause I like honing but hate stropping, so it balances things out.

Ok, first test down.
I did not mention it, but I did 5 touch up laps on my Naniwa 12k just to make sure I was starting from the same basic point.

I could tell no difference. BBS on both sides and both razors shaved extremely well and comfortable.

So far, night stropping is sounding good!

I also think that I may just do a quick Camilia oil wipe down after the stropping. I have no reason why because test #1 went so well except that is how the honemeisters ship them.

David

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Big_E

Ever since I started shaving with a straight, I always strop the night before. Don't know why I did that. I guess I figured my chances of knicking the strop was greater in the morning. It feels good to just jump out of the shower, get a fresh razor and shave and gives me a ritual to do in the evenings.
Ernest

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I like it. Expecially the ritual in the evening. Right now, my evening ritual is only to set out my chosen cream, my scuttle and a razor I pick out. I would like to add stropping as well.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by holli4pirating

I don't always stop right before I shave. I usually do it whenever I finish honing, cause I like honing but hate stropping, so it balances things out.

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I have to admit I find stropping a little nerve wracking. It is the only aspect of this art that I have history of damaging equipment doing. Now that I have a nice Premium IV strop, I am still paranoid about nicking it.

I strop after honing which is the night before usually.
I have not experienced any differences from a freshly stropped razor.

It's supposed to be done right before shaving however I don't think there would be any noticeable difference doing it the night before however noticeable doesn't mean no difference. One of the reasons for stropping is to remove micro rust that forms very quickly on bare steel so if you strop the night before you will have some accumulation no matter how trace it may be.

Considering the level of general morning stupor I experience, stropping the night before increases the life of my strop.

Yes, I can shave in my sleep. Stropping? Nope.

LG Roy

So there is a reason to lightly oil the blade afterword.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by thebigspendur

It's supposed to be done right before shaving however I don't think there would be any noticeable difference doing it the night before however noticeable doesn't mean no difference. One of the reasons for stropping is to remove micro rust that forms very quickly on bare steel so if you strop the night before you will have some accumulation no matter how trace it may be.

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Thanks for posting this thread... I was contemplating stropping in the evening just to buy myself some more time in the morning. SO far from what I have read here, there is apparently no difference. However, I do like to strop following a shave as the final step after cleaning, drying and putting my razor away for the night.

Ok - day 2 experiment results. A Dovo Special 6/8 and a Dovo Bismark.

Special on the right side, Bismark on the left. I can't tell any difference in the shave quality or comfort. Both did an excellent job. And I did 3 passes WTG, XTG and ATG - all equivalent.

So I will now add stropping to my nightly ritual and I will put a thin film of oil on the blade afterwords. In the morning I will wipe the oil and shave.

Thanks for every one's encouragement and I hope there is value derived for everyone on this experiment.

David

Thanks for keeping us informed. Good job!:beer2:

I strop immediately before my shave, and sometimes a light strop after. I don't think it matters much when you strop, just as long as the razor gets stropped.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by hoglahoo

As long as your home is free of gremlins, your razor should be fine overnight

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If in the morning,your dog/cat is terrified and bald,the gremlins have already been and an un-stropped blade is the least of your problems:rofl2:

When you strop you are straightening the edge of the razor and also removing any kind of build up on the razor. As long as you're straightening the edge with stropping in between shaves you're doing your job of maintaining your razor.

Pretty simple.

I strop the night before AND before I shave. You can't overstrop can you?

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Originally Posted by gull

I strop the night before AND before I shave. You can't overstrop can you?

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Its debatable - providing your technique is sound, then I dont believe so. If your technique is a bit off, then you will slowly (or possibly quickly) blunt the edge.

I go with Bigspendur. One of the major reasons to strop is to remove slight rust, and corrosion, and recondition the edge. However, if one was to put oil on the blade after stropping, the night before, that particular problem would probably be eliminated for all practical purposes.

Take care,
Richard

You cant overstrop unless your technique is bad, in which case you'll end up dulling the edge due to poor technique.

I always strop before shaving because it is part of my ritual. If I stropped the night before I would probably still strop before shaving since it is the way I do things. I have to few rituals in my life to leave out this one.

I like stropping both after I shave, to test the blade with the tpt, and before I shave to finish the job. If I'm not happy with the tpt, I make a mental note to fix it before using that razor again.

I like to do 40 or so laps before shaving and another 10 or 20 afterwards. I read somewhere that this can be useful in cleaning the edge after a shave before putting the razor away. I liked that idea as some razors don't get used for a week or more at a time (and longer now that my collection is growing).

Marc,

I usually strop my razor 15-20 laps afterwards--both fabric and leather. It helps clean the gunk off of the edge of your razor and helps dry it, imho.

Just my 2 cents.

IME, stropping right before shaving yields optimum results. I think the edge relaxes just a little bit when you strop the night before, not to mention that it doesn't take long for oxidation to begin if only barely. I like to strop before getting in the shower in the morning. At the same time I fill the sink with hot water and soak the brush and bowl in same. Stropping before taking a shower allows me to get out of the shower and start shaving sooner while my beard is softer.

I just stumbled across this article taken from a Sydney newspaper back in 1916 that touches on this very subject. Here is a copy of it, sorry for the quality...

http://i864.photobucket.com/albums/a...onicle1916.jpg

As long as your razor is stropped before the next shave it doesn't really matter when you stropped it.

I strop before work and shave after work. I work second shift and don't get home till around midnight and since my strops are in the walk in closet in the bedroom and my wife works days and is asleep in the bedroom it would be rude to wake her up with stropping noises. I see no difference between doing this and when I strop right befor I shave.